Posts by Andrew C

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  • Hard News: Speaking Freely,

    Seeing as some people on this forum seem to know quite a bit about this stuff, I have a question about the TVs with integrated freeview in them. Its probably a stupid question, but I am a total tech novice :)

    If our freeview decoder is built into the TV, how can you record in HD onto an external harddrive or dvd recorder?

    We had thought we needed to get an external box which does all the HD/freeview stuff, and then pipes it into the harddrive/dvd recorder so we can tape freeview in HD, and then onwards into the freeview compat TV.

    If the decoder is inside the TV, how does the dvd/harddrive recorder get the decoded HD freeview signal?

    Thanks
    Andy C

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Island Life: Still not over it,

    God, I know I wouldn't be complaining about a complete lack of infrastructure if <i>I</i> was offered the chance of waiting for a poky little van to carry me through gridlock traffic over a 1km stretch of road. I'd be lapping that shit up and calling it icecream, just to show my undying gratitude for scraps from the council table.

    Sheesh.

    Well, not only would you not be doing that, as you are in Morningside you quite possibly would also not be using the cycle lanes on the bridge.

    Thats one less number on the denominator of the cost/user, and this is one seriously big expense here, and thats the problem.

    They are worried that the 'build it and they will come' idea may not apply given history.

    At the time of the van option the crew lobbying for it trumpeted it as a huge success and started pushing for more vans to be offered as they guaranteed they would be all full up from day one. Turns out they were wrong. So its not a stretch to think the current lobbiest *could* be wrong too [as oposed to everyone else just not getting it]

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Island Life: Still not over it,

    It seems to me that making cyclists free and extending the hours and services on the harbour ferries would probably make more sense, as far as benefit per dollar goes.

    That would be good, but really only service the leafy 'burbs of Devonport

    Fullers ferries currently sail from Bayswater, Devo, Birkenhead, Northcote point, Half Moon Bay & Stanley Bay

    I take the 8am Birkenhead ferry every day and on my trip we get approx 5-10 cyclists.

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Island Life: Still not over it,

    So the cyclist who has picked an autonomous and intrinsicly rewarding form or transport gets to wait for a van.

    I'm sure had they wanted to catch a quaxing bus they would have.

    These people really really don't get it.

    It was a dedicated van thing with big open area inside for the bikes and the turnaround time was very short, all it had to do was pick them up on one side and deposit them on the other, and then quickly head back again.

    Its not so much that people dont get it, its that the suggested rampant demand fell so amazingly far short it lends itself to suspicion that the provision of a service to get bikes over the bridge simply wont be used at a level to justify the expenditure.

    Yes you may be right that some cyclists didnt want to wait around for the short time it took for their dedicated bus to pick them up and its not autonomous and its not etc etc. However I find it difficult to believe that the number of cyclists who were prepared to use this van and did was so massively small cf the proportion who would have used the cycle lane and not the van. ie i just dont think the numbers stacked up.

    The request may be good intentioned, but public bodies need to allocate scarce resources effectively and efficiently, and this project has an existing track record which puts it clearly in the "high risk of squandered money" category

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Island Life: Still not over it,

    Thing is, the council has already been down this cycle on the brdge before and got burned - i guess they are thinking fool me twice shame on me.

    Many years ago the same cry was made, cyclists need access to the bridge, build a cycleway and we will come.

    The council were not sure but gave it a go. However instead of building the cycleway they offered a bus/van service which picked up the cyclists on one side and deposited them on the other.

    And how many people used this service?

    sweet f a. And i mean *seriously* sweet f a.

    The demand was imagined. The council put up, the cyclists shut up.

    There was some estimate of the cost_of_cycle_lane / number of cyclists who used the service and it worked out to be like winning golden kiwi or something.

    Dont get me wrong, i love public transport and cycling etc, I havnt driven to work for 10 years and use public transport every working day. But is a reality check needed in this instance?

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Breaking up the Band,

    The interesting thing will be how many people who worked in the Beehive during the Lange years will be brave enough to back Bassett up on the Pope thesis.

    I seem to recall a documentary on Lange (prob 5+ years old now?) where they interviewed ex politicians and media etc who all seemed to basically agree that Pope *did* have a significant influence on Lange. So Bassett is not alone in this claim here.

    If memory serves the opinion was that Lange became increasingly reliant on her policy views near the end of his term.

    Does anyone else recall the doco name?

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Fun,

    You are correct Hiro, its about as walking distance as auckland is to wellington.

    I think it was simply Obama using the generic or catch all term Auschwitz rather than being deceitful, fewer and fewer people are taking an active role in knowing world war history now and I imagine he is one of these people

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: All Aboard!,

    How many Aucklanders have aircon? Even the apartment blocks and (most) hotels I've been in don't.

    I have done a small amount of power modeling in a few different countries, and peak demand side growth has almost almost always been driven by the increase in summer due to air con and heat pumps (in air con mode).

    It would suspect NZ will follow a similar pattern.

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: All Aboard!,

    Andrew

    I don't think I'm with you on solar power being the answer(suppose I will have to buy North and South to read the whole article - cunning marketing ploy). While the power is 'free' you still have to pay off the capital and maintenance - last time I worked the numbers it was about five times the retail price of power.

    Solar power cell creation has had real advances over the last few years and soon a new generation of solar panels will be ready for production. The key difference with these to the old ones is the cost, they have found much much cheaper ways to print the cells, which will flow on to a shorter capital payback period.

    Scientific America and New Scientist have had really good easy to grasp articles on this topic over the last 5 years, hunt them out if interested.

    Auckland • Since May 2008 • 169 posts Report Reply

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